1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to animal repellents, and, in particular, to animal repellents. More particularly, the present invention relates to a repellant for cats, and a dispenser therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Odorants and dispensers for odorants are known in the art. Some odorants are fragrant, and some are repugnant to certain species of animals and act as repellents to particular species.
It is quite common for cats in cold climates or during the wintertime in temperate climates to seek the warmth of various objects. By the word "cat" is meant the small domestic cat which are commonly kept as pets throughout the world and which prey upon mice when given the opportunity. Frequently, cats will crawl into the area of an automobile surrounding the engine shortly after the engine has been turned off or ceases operation. The engine may retain heat for many hours, and a cat may crawl into the shroud in front of the radiator of an automobile engine seeing warmth. Unfortunately, cats commonly go to sleep on the engine in the vicinity of the radiator and may remain there until the automobile engine is restarted. As the radiator fan blade of the engine begins turning, a cat may receive serious injury from the turning blade, or the cat may be killed. Furthermore, a cat can be caught in the flexible belts driving the alternator, power steering unit, and other equipment of the automobile engine.
Exemplary of animal repellant compositions and dispensers for odorants are the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,819 discloses an air fragrance device for a ceiling which is an apparatus wherein a plurality of generally "U" shaped clips are securable to opposed, elongated lateral edges of a ceiling fan blade, and the brackets are securable together by spaced parallel coil springs to maintain the brackets to the ceiling fan blade, and an air freshener packet including a plurality of tubes are spaced apart a predetermined distance equal to a distance spaced apart by the springs received through respective ones of the tubes to secure the tubes and the packet to the ceiling fan blade. A modification of the instant invention includes the "U" shaped brackets securable together by opposed pairs of flexible straps including hook and loop fasteners mounted at terminal ends thereof, and a modified deodorizing packet includes a plurality of polymeric springs securable to spaced apertures of an underside of the packet to position the packet above an upper fan blade surface during securement by the straps of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,532 discloses an animal repellant composition including an animal repellent proportion of an olfactory animal repellent carried by a vehicle including a di(alkhyl) adipate and a method of repelling animals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,695 discloses a tree banding article to protect against gypsy moth larvae. The article is disclosed to protect tree foliage from crawling insects such as gypsy moth larvae. The banding article is a flexible polymeric film, such polyethylene film bearing an adhesive or elastomeric material layer on the surface in contact with the tree and a coating on the exterior surface which contains a material toxic to gypsy moth larvae.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,670 discloses a potpourri holder for a ceiling fan which is a basket containing perfumed potpourri suspended beneath a ceiling fan so that air from the fan is circulated through the basket and perfumed by the potpourri. The basket has a bottom portion of relatively tightly formed mesh for retaining the potpourri and an upper portion of relatively loosely formed mesh for providing air circulation through the basket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,304 discloses a composition for repelling birds, the composition having as active ingredients finely divided dried pepper from pungent fruits of plants of the genus Capsicum and finely divided dried garlic and typically being diluted by inert, finely divided mineral material or water for application to the earth surface or to growing plants to repel birds given to eating seeds, plants, vegetables, and fruits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,898 discloses an animal repellant mixture of undecanone-2 and 3-phenylpropenal which is a mixture of 3-phenylpropenal with undecanone-2 acting in a synergistic manner to provide an animal repellant of improved effectiveness to discourage scavenging animals, in particular, for animals of the dog and cat families.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,064 discloses a water insoluble polymeric web structures and filaments containing encapsulated components. The disclosure is directed to formation of self-supporting, three dimensional, water-insoluble, polymeric web structures containing encapsulated components. The webs are composed of randomly associated joined monofilaments of water-insoluble polymers, the monofilaments ranging in average diameter from about 1 to 10 microns, usually from about 2 to 7 microns, on/or in which are located encapsulated components, e.g., coloring agents, perfumes, or other scents, e.g. insect sex attractants, agricultural chemicals, insecticides, pesticides, etc. Any water-insoluble web-forming polymer, including compatible polymer mixtures, can be used provided that the polymers are capable of having a self-supporting web structure, the randomly associated individual monofilaments of which are self-supporting when spanning a gap of at least 1 inch. The web-forming polymer solutions or dispersions can be dispensed from various types of dispensing systems and equipment, e.g. from spray guns, portable aerosol cans, etc., to provide a novel and advantageous way of dispensing agricultural treating agents or other encapsulated materials onto plants or other desired repositories or locations without interfering therewith, viz., with plant growth or metabolic processes thereof.
According to a preferred embodiment, the disclosure is also directed to aerosolizable formulations including the polymer (or polymers) forming the web structure, a solvent (or mixture of solvents) used to dissolve the polymer, a propellent (or mixture of propellants) to propel the polymer solution from the aerosol dispensing device, and the encapsulated material which becomes imbedded in or adherent to the polymeric filaments upon formation of the web. Other optional ingredients, e.g., a plasticizer(s) can be included in the aerosolizable formulations to impart increased tackiness to the web over extended time periods.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,176 discloses repelling animals with ketone, the method including exposing an animal to a repellent amount of at least one ketone which is (a) a saturated aliphatic ketone having from 7 to 19 carbon atoms, (b) an unsaturated aliphatic ketone having from 7 to 13 carbon atoms, or (c) 4-t-amyl cyclohexanone or 4-t-butyl cyclohexanone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,246 discloses an insecticidal type coated tape including an absorbent strip saturated with a residual insecticide, the type having on its bottom face a rubber base pressure sensitive adhesive coating and resin barrier membrane between the strip and the rubber base to prevent any interaction between the residual insecticide and the rubber base of the adhesive coating.